An inspection day is an important day in real estate, be it for the buyer or the seller. As the name implies, inspection day in real estate is where a prospective buyer will do an ocular inspection of the house they want to buy. This is done to make sure that the property is in good condition. If there’s work that needs to be done in parts of the house, it will be noted and fixed later.
A home inspection is also a final call of sorts, both for the buyer and the seller. It allows the buyer to decide whether or not they want to go through with the purchase. For the seller, it can enable them to negotiate with the buyer regarding the price of the property.
What exactly should you expect when inspection day comes? In this article, we’ll shed light on the matter. Read on below.
What to Expect As a Buyer
During inspection day, a professional home inspector will be the one to take point in the inspection. If you’re a buyer, attendance at the home inspection is a must. After all, you’re going to live there, so you must see the property for yourself. There’s also a chance that you can get the seller to pay for it.
A home inspection generally takes about 2 to 4 hours. After the inspection, your home inspector will draft up a written report which contains all of the information obtained from the inspection.
Below are some things that you should keep an eye out for during the inspection.
- Commodities, such as ventilation, plumbing, and electrical systems
- The property’s structural integrity
- The roofing system
- Walls, doors, and other physical attributes of the property
The more that your inspector can see, the better their report will be. If they have a complete report, it can help you better if there are problems to fix.
What to Do As a Seller
Since you’re the seller, you must cooperate with the inspector and the buyer to seal the deal.
Below are some ways that you can help.
- Clean the property. It makes a good impression, especially on the buyer. If they see a tidy property, they can heavily lean towards buying it.
- Leave necessary things out in the open, such as keys. If keys are easily accessible to the inspector, they can see the property’s condition for themselves.
- If the property’s utilities, such as electricity and plumbing, are turned off, turn them on again so that the inspector and the buyer can quickly rule them out as something that needs to be addressed.
Once the inspection is complete, the next step is to fix problems if any are found. These could be plumbing defects, electrical issues, and broken doors and windows, to name a few.
Understanding Home Inspection Costs
The cost of a home inspection is somewhere between $200 to $400. As for who pays it, that’s the tricky part.
Sellers sometimes conduct inspections of their own before the buyer does the assessment. And at times, buyers sometimes don’t accept reports from inspections done by the seller. The best course of action is to find your inspector if you’re the buyer.
Conclusion
Home inspections are a crucial step that must not be taken lightly during the homebuying process. The information you’ll find can help you if you want to push through with the deal or not. If there are indeed problems, those can always be fixed.
You must always make sure that the property you’re buying is in excellent condition because you’ll live in it for a long time. A home inspector can always help because they are the experts when it comes to knowing the faults of a house.
If you’re looking for a home inspector, you’re in luck because Ally Property Inspections has got your back! We operate in the Birmingham and Atlanta areas. If you need home inspections and your prospective property is in those areas, we’re the one to call! Contact us today for more details.